The hike to Dawn Mine is a great
half day adventure taking you two and one-half miles into the
depths of Millard Canyon.

From Lake St. or Fair Oaks go north to Loma
Alta Drive in Altadena. Turn left to Chaney Trail Drive and then
turn right up into the foothills. Park in a designated spot just
outside the Sunset Ridge fire road. Be sure you have your
Adventure Pass prominently displayed in your vehicle.

Hike up
the fire road to a marker denoting the Sunset Ridge Trail which
youll take, dropping you down into the canyon. This first
part of the trip is quite easy and gives you some nice views of
the canyon. You will pass above Millard Falls often hearing the
echoes of children yelling and dogs barking as they frolic in
the pool beneath the falls. Off to your left youll see
Saucer Canyon. In the spring the area is easily spotted by a thin
silvery stream of a waterfall in the distance.

Soon youll reach a junction in the trail
and you will want to bear left and down to the stream. Along the
way youll pass by the long time cabin of Mr. Ed Nohr.

Once you reach the streambed you can put your
trail finding skills to work. The old trail crisscrosses the
stream in numerous places often causing you to wonder if
youre on the right track. Just keep following the stream as
it climbs higher into the canyon. The flora and fauna along the
way add nicely to the mental challenges of selecting just the
right boulders to hop upon as you work your way further up.

If there is any doubt that you are on on the right track
your suspicions are quickly relieved by the site of mining
equipment showing up here and there, rusted and banged up beyond
any repair.

Soon youll pass an area with cabin size
boulders and then its just a short distance before you come
to the scene of the old mill site. This is a fun area to explore.
You can see all sorts of foundations and metal artifacts and
little side trails leading to who knows where. It is only a half
mile more to the mine.

Up on your left youll be greeted by a large piece
of machinery that is mounted to the rock wall just outside the
entrance to the Dawn Mine.

This is a great spot to just stop and have a
light snack. It is shady here as is most of Millard Canyon and
the bugs seem to be minimal. There are lots of things to explore
other than the mine and as Ill say many times in this
issue, "I recommend you stay out of the mine."

The mine floor is covered with water making it
difficult to know what you are crossing. The floor is also
covered with rotten, water logged beams. Just a short distance
inside is a deep water filled shaft. As you shine you light
inside the tunnel and see two eyes peering back, perhaps it is
time to head back.

Above the entrance of the Dawn Mine forty feet
or so is another tunnel accessible only by scaling the sheer rock
face on a toe-hold trail first to the right and then back to the
left. At the end of the trail is about a five foot reach to the
entrance of the tunnel overlooking the drop straight down to the
front of the mine and inside not five feet away is a shaft fifty
feet down. talk about being in-between a rock and a hard place.
Best to stay away.

Just across the streambed are trails leading up
to what was the home of Mr. Ryan. Actually there are trails
everywhere and half the fun of coming up here is exploring where
they go.

One of course is the trail that Ryans mules,
Jack and Jill, used to haul ore up to the Mt. Lowe Railroad, on
the way to market. You could hike up to the top of this trail and
then down the fire road which is the old rail bed for the
railroad, and end up back where you started otherwise just head
back down the canyon the way you came.